Silly little Utah question...

[Shan]

I don't mean to offend by any means...

I've noticed in Utah (Uinta Basin and in Logan - where I've lived so far), that people here don't say "Bless You" after you sneeze - or if someone sneezes I say it to them, I don't get a thank you. Just dead silence.

Now everywhere else I've lived or visited, this is pretty common - as common as saying "Hello?" when you answer a phone. Even when my ILs were here last week, I noticed how often they said it (I have big time allergies!) and how curious I am to figure out why it's NOT common Utah.

Is it something to do with priesthood and not being qualified to "bless" anyone?

No, it's not a big deal, just one of those questions I've had in the back of my mind since I arrived here 7 years ago!

[accadacca]

Bless You! :blbl:


Is it something to do with priesthood and not being qualified to "bless" anyone?
That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time..... :roflol:

Like when I heard that the Mormons have a tunnel that they use to ship all the virgins back from (insert city here) to Utah. :lol8:

Damn good idea though and where is this tunnel? :ne_nau: :naughty:

[Shan]

Well see what I come up with when left to my own devices! I was joking really.

Ahem, you still didn't answer my question.

[accadacca]

Ahem, you still didn't answer my question.
Hell, I don't know? Good question. Some people do and some don't. It is not something that I am used to, prolly because of the culture. :ne_nau: But hell who knows....anyone?

Lets make it a habit on uutah. Bless You! :lol8:

[Udink]

Is there a reason people should say it? It may be more that there's no reason to do it, rather than a reason not to do it. I never really understood it myself. People who normally say it and who know me well enough have stopped saying it to me when I sneeze, they usually get the hint after I say, "No thanks" a few times. :haha:

[stefan]

hmm, are you offended by the lack of bless yous?

personally, i don't really understand the need for the custom. it seems horribly outdated to me, i think we understand that there are no real "worries" about the consequences of sneezing. but hey if you like the superstition or the social activity, participate, but i am not sure if you should expect the reciprocation necessarily...i personally don't like the religious overtones. the german is a way of avoiding the religious connotations, but it's also awkward.

why do we need to recognize that someone sneezes? we don't say anything when people cough, which is just as violent. course your head isn't moving nearly as fast when you cough as when you sneeze (100-600 mph). maybe we should say congratulations, that we didn't smack our head on anything, or have our brain come flying out of our skull.

sorry, just having some fun here.


but i would like to point out that seinfeld made a great epsiode based on this. basically george goes to dinner with elaine and a couple, friends of elaine. the wife sneezes, the husband doesn't give her a god bless you, so george decides to. well, she is taken by it and, since she and husband are having problems, ultimately she ends up having an affair with george. hilariously classic seinfeld, extrapolating from simple everyday occurences to their extreme and absurd manifestations.

[jumar]

I was just thinking of that Seinfeld episode. LOL

Achoo!!
"You're sooooo good lookin"

[Shan]

It's nothing about being offended, just one of those things that has sat in the back of my mind for 7 years now, and the recent ILs visit prompted me to ask here.

Like I said, anywhere else I have lived or visited or people who visit me from other places, saying it is as common and habitual as saying "hello?" when you pick up the phone (best analogy I can think of). Like a reflex almost.

They say it even in Mexico and Denmark, two places I have visited. Salud in Spanish, I forgot in Danish.

I do remember having a similar conversation with a woman from FL (we were in Duchesne at the time) about how she recognized people didn't say it either. My husband says the same thing, he's from NJ. So I'm not the only one inventing silly little questions!

[TreeHugger]

Here are some thoughts:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2218,00.html

and more interesting ideas:
http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.asp

[Shan]

Those are the origins of Bless You, not why some people notice it's not common in Utah based on their experiences.

[icthys]

If someone sqeezes and is sick I will generally say bless you cause I want them to get better or feel better. If someone sneezes because their nose itches or have a loose boogie I ask them if they are alright. I mostly don't say bless you because when someone says it to me it just seems wierd to bless me for sneezing.

[Iceaxe]

Hey Shan.... what is the polite and proper reply to a fart? Enquiring minds want to know?!?!

I never say "Bless You"..... AAaaa.... unless my wife and I are playing the Priest and naughty nun game.... :lol8: :getiton: :lol8:

[stefan]

okay, i'll try to respond to your question, though i won't answer it.

i have spent the majority of my life in utah (salt lake), and i have known MANY people to say bless you. however, the only way i can see the *trend* you are identifying as not being simply coincidental is, if it so happens that mormons tend not to say bless you after someone sneezes. this is not meant in any sort of derogatory way, but outside of salt lake, the majority of the people are either mormon or of mormon descent, and it may just be the cultural norm. i however do not know enough about this to make any sort of statement one way or the other, but i wouldn't have expected NOT saying bless you to be the norm.

[Shan]

Weird! I asked this on another board (nationwide) and everyone but one woman who was raised LDS in California says they say it and that it's very common in their area. Isn't that a little strange? :ne_nau:

[accadacca]

Weird! I asked this on another board (nationwide)
Are you saying we ain't nationwide? :lol8:

[stefan]

well, again, not to be derogatory, i know a few mormons outside of utah who recognize a difference between utah mormons and nonutah mormons. this *may* be related to the discrepancy, but again, i have absolutely no idea.

[jumar]

Test case!
I just sneezed and no one said bless you
:haha:

[Shan]

a-HA!

[stefan]

but the question should be asked....was anyone around?


i mean, if a person sneezes in a forest, and there's no one around to hear,

[Shan]

:roflol:

Forgot to ask that! So was there?

[accadacca]

Test case!
I just sneezed and no one said bless you
:haha:
Bless You!!! You bastard!! Hows that? :lol8:

[stefan]

Test case!
I just sneezed and no one said bless you
:haha:
Bless You!!! You bastard!! Hows that? :lol8:

:haha: :lol8: :roflol: :five:

sweeeeeet!!! :2thumbs:

[marc olivares]

this is hilarious, we (me and a few transplants from CA) have a running joke at my work about how Utahans don't acknowledge sneezing.
it's weird to me too and just plain RUDE.... :frustrated:

i feel your pain Shan, need a hug? :ne_nau:

[RedMan]

Shan,

Perhaps you should take it as a personal afront. What is it that you do to people that they don't want you to be blessed????

Its just another of the many ways the church teaches us to drive away outsiders :five:

[goofball]

well good for utahns. as with numerous other religion spawned myths this one has been debunked by rational thought. we do not sneeze to expel satan or demonic influences, or to herald our imminent (and quickly forthcoming) death. so why perpetuate an archaic fantasy, even as harmless as it really is ? when people say "bless you" to me when i sneeze i either totally ignore it or reply w/ "no need to be superstitious" or some such like statement. and i do not think it is one bit rude to not validate peoples superstitions by not responding or by putting it in its proper place - religious superstition. if any quip need accompany a sneeze how about a gesundheit (be in good health) ? not that sneezing is an indication of bad health, but that is better than thinking the foul forces of satan are tryin to git me.

[Sombeech]

I usually say Bless You, even if I don't know the person.

I think it comes down to personality. If you are the type to say Hi to a "passer-by", then you will most likely say Bless You, if they are in vocal range.

Then again, sneezes are more "audible" than the average "bless you", so people may be saying it under their breath, because it would sound strange to yell it across the room.

I'm convinced it has nothing to do with religion.

[Scott Card]

Being a home grown Utahan but having lived in Texas and So. Cal. I have always said "Bless you" I do it for no other reason than custom and to be polite. I haven't known too many in So. Cal who said it. Folks there are paranoid to talk to strangers for fear of getting shot or sued. Boy did I get some crazy reactions when I arrived in L.A. for school and said "Howdy" or "How's it goin." Reactions were anywhere from panic to "don't talk to me bumpkin" I of course accentuated my Utah twang and said it more. :haha: That is until the Rodney King riots. I shut up like the rest of them after that.

BTW, that Seinfeld episode was on last night on Fox 13. The best part was Kramer who had seizures each time her heard Mary Hart's voice. Also, for all those who just sneezed, "you are soooo good lookin" as Jerry says.

[rock_ski_cowboy]

I, being 100% Utahn, rarely say "Bless you" and it seems wierd or pointless to me when people do. If i am in company of personas que hablar espanol then i will typically say "salud" when they sneeze but that doesn't mean it isn't dumb too, its just something that all the latins I've been around always do. If I lived outside of Utah, I might say "bless you" more just not to be rude.

I often, however, say hello or hey or sup or various other greetings to people I don't know, with mixed reactions, and i do that mostly to be friendly and because its amusing.

The "bless you" may have fallen out of practice indirectly as a result of many Mormons' hesitance to say "God bless you" in any sort of casual way, which has nothing to do with priesthood, and more to do with the third commandment... There could be a correlative relationship, but likely has nothing more to do with Mormondom than the fact that many Utahns call soda "pop" and are obsessed with eating a wonderful mixture of ketchup and mayo we call fry sauce.

"... all those smart-ass folks that say we come descended from monkies. Thats not my culture and heritage! Is it yours?" -- Homer Stokes

[stefan]

There could be a correlative relationship, but likely has nothing more to do with Mormondom than the fact that many Utahns call soda "pop" and are obsessed with eating a wonderful mixture of ketchup and mayo we call fry sauce.


well, i think it very well have much to do with mormondom, in that mormons form a cultural group, and cultural groups can very well reinforce certain manners of speaking. while the religious tie may be tenuous, the cultural tie can be quite strong.

[rock_ski_cowboy]

well, i think it very well have much to do with mormondom, in that mormons form a cultural group, and cultural groups can very well reinforce certain manners of speaking. while the religious tie may be tenuous, the cultural tie can be quite strong.

Good point, Stefan. I guess i was thinking of the religion and forgetting about the culture...

[Shan]

Thanks for the points! Now I'm off to look up the 3rd commandment...

I do say it just because it's a reflex almost and it was a custom where I lived originally. I am not religious, and to me saying bless you doesn't even make me think of religion or superstition. So that could be a whole different study!